In other words, if you exhibit collaborative skills, you will have greater professional value. Strong, competitive positions deserve a larger fee, salary, or equity stake. For those of us with a self-interest, such skills, in turn, allow for more financial, and thus, personal options. The study of collaboration is a good use of our time.
With all the stakeholders in a project (we have seen as many as 26), it is no wonder that collaboration is a pressing need for most construction organizations. These many, many parties, if not managed, become an unwieldy adversary to the project's goals.
To start our discussion, we categorize these partners into three major groups.
1. Funders/Users
- Owners of projects. They fund the project and own it. Sometimes they occupy the building or manage the infrastructure.
- Developers of projects. Their business is a hybrid of real estate and construction. They facilitate land use by building on it for a profit.
- Architects. Typically, the architect is the lead designer in building a project. He or she carefully mixes aesthetics with utility. One of their values is that they know most of the mistakes in design and utility and then prevent those from happening, while keeping project goals in mind.
- Engineers. In an infrastructure project (such as a road, dam, or bridge) engineers lead the design. In building work, these professionals assist the architect to make certain the building will deliver life safety requirements as well as provide a 30-plus year building envelope of integrity.
- General Contractors keep all persons who build the project working in a common direction. Their job is to:
- Create the process of building the project and foresee any construction problems as the project progresses
- Force communication among all building parties
- Create the process of building the project and foresee any construction problems as the project progresses
- Specialty Contractors actually build most of the work. They are specialists in labor, material, and equipment, including the process of installing specific parts of the project.
The following are the challenges to collaboration in construction.
1. Partners, Processes and Products (the 3 P's)
- Partners. All project participants must have the same goal for the project. They have to be chosen with care. In our economy, cost is always an issue, and it must be balanced with quality. There is a trade-off between the two; however, knowing exactly what is needed, asking your partners for it, and excluding all the rest is a smart way to keep costs reasonable.
- Processes. Construction teams must define the process of building. Rudyard Kipling's 6 wise men of "who, what, when, where, how, and why" force processes to be developed with thoughtfulness. Thoughtful processes minimize conflict and thus keep collaboration moving forward. It is no surprise that project processes must be developed before the project is started. To make them up as you go invites problems including rework, mistakes, and distrust. Good processes are key.
- Products have to be trusted to be used. Good collaborators know that products which have been successfully used are the only ones to consider. The sizzle of new product is nice at a grand opening, but the use of the building is what people remember and what will give you a strong future in the industry.
- Time. Faster to market is a pressure all owners and developers are under. Competitive edges sell future business.
- Cost. Keeping costs competitive is expected. Raising value allows extra revenue dollars to be earned. No quality project was ever built by a low-cost team.
- Safety. For all project parties, safety is not negotiable. Quality contractors, owners, and designers insist that this be kept at a very high level.
- Quality. The user must enjoy consistent benefit over the life of the building or the infrastructure project.
- Personalities. Smart, collaborative teams insist on a culture of "what is right" (versus "who is right")
Reiteration is the necessary patience to succeed when collaborating. Teams will do better with time. Sometimes teams don't do well at first, especially as they first start working together. There is consistently a phase of "forming," where the working relationships, processes, and so forth are getting fine tuned.
Those who start finger pointing early (and often) should not be invited to the next project. As long as everyone wants and is capable of doing a great job, there is no place for blaming. The process is usually the problem, not the people.
4. How You Know You Have Succeeded
Success is when you have met your goals. Little value is gained if we compare ourselves with other projects and teams. Be satisfied with your current accomplishment.
Tomorrow, and the call to improve on your performance, will come soon enough. Overall, coordinating all project partners into one consistent push toward project completion with high satisfaction can't be debated. It is the goal. The path to that destination is what excellent collaboration is about.
